The IPS Officer At The Centre Of A Marital Dispute With Wife Pooja

Bihar-cadre IPS officer Bhanu Pratap Singh is at the centre of a family dispute with his wife Pooja, whose allegations have brought their personal life into the spotlight. Images and videos showing Pooja outside a residence and later at a police station have circulated widely on social media. 

As per reports, Pooja has approached the police in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, alleging that she has been denied access to their young daughter and that her relationship with her husband has deteriorated sharply in recent years. 

She has also made several serious allegations against her husband and his family. Bhanu Pratap Singh, meanwhile, has not publicly accepted the allegations.

Here is what is known about the controversy, the couple's relationship and Singh's journey to the IPS.

Who is IPS officer Bhanu Pratap Singh : Bhanu Pratap Singh is a 2021-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Bihar cadre and is currently posted as the Superintendent of Police in Khagaria. Before becoming an SP, he served as an Assistant Superintendent of Police in Muzaffarpur and Danapur.

Singh is originally from the Fatehpur Sikri area of Uttar Pradesh and has a postgraduate degree in Hindi literature.

The bureaucrat has previously spoken about his journey to the civil services in a Josh Talks programme. According to his account, his father had served in the Indian Army, and seeing him in uniform as a child inspired him to pursue a career as an officer.

Singh made five attempts at the UPSC Civil Services Examination. He failed in his first two attempts but managed to clear the examination in each of his next three attempts. During two of these attempts, he was selected for other government services, including the Indian Railway Personnel Service and the Indian Audit and Accounts Service.

He eventually achieved his goal in his fifth and final attempt. In the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020, Singh secured an All India Rank of 372 and was selected for the Indian Police Service.

Bhanu Pratap Singh and Pooja's love story : According to Pooja's account, the couple first met in 2015 at a family function in Kolkata. Their initial acquaintance developed into friendship and eventually a relationship. However, their families reportedly opposed the relationship. 

Pooja claimed that she left her home in Kolkata and travelled to Bharatpur to be with Singh. The couple subsequently married on January 16, 2016, despite opposition from their families.

Pooja reportedly comes from a Brahmin fanmily in Kolkata, while Singh belongs to a Jat family from Uttar Pradesh. After their marriage, Pooja worked as a teacher at a private school in Bharatpur for around five years. She said that she supported Singh while he was preparing for the UPSC examination and working towards his goal of joining the civil services. The couple later had a daughter, who was born in 2020.

What happened between Bhanu Pratap Singh and his wife : According to Pooja, the relationship began deteriorating after Singh's selection for the IPS. She has alleged that the marital relationship subsequently became strained and that she faced pressure to separate from her husband. She also alleged that Singh wants a divorce and that she has been prevented from meeting their daughter.

These allegations have not been independently established.

The dispute has now moved beyond the couple's private life, with Pooja approaching the police in Bharatpur, where her in-laws' family home is located. 

According to her account, she was not allowed inside the residence. She alleged that Singh left with their daughter, following which she sat outside the gate in protest. 

She later approached the Mathura Gate police station and submitted a complaint against her husband and his family. One of her main allegations is that she is being kept away from her daughter.

After the police contacted Singh by phone, the matter was treated as a family dispute, and no immediate action was taken. Pooja reportedly remained at the police station until late at night.

Pooja said that the prolonged marital dispute has caused severe emotional distress. She said that she does not want Singh to lose his job and that her primary demand is to be able to exercise her rights as a wife and maintain contact with her daughter.